Abstract

This paper examines the impact of decisions by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on processes of market liberalization in the European Union (EU). Research on national responses to European legal obligations in the telecommunications and electricity sectors concentrates on France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. I argue that political responses to parallel legal obligations resulted in distinct regulatory outcomes. Traditionally regulated on a national level as public services, telecommunications and electricity markets offered different opportunities and costs. Distinct patterns of political mobilization among concentrated, intensely interested actors encouraged a wide-ranging program of telecommunications liberalization but only a limited competitive regime for electricity.